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The Extras: You Do You

With 400 plus student groups and tons of events daily, how does a Brown student navigate life outside of the lecture hall? I’m Lily Hartmann, and I am the freshmen behind “The Extras”; the blog that aims to give you a glimpse into the most exciting and noteworthy activities on campus. Throughout the year this blog will give you snapshots of what Brunonians do when they aren’t hitting the books on College Hill!

As you probably know by now, Brown University is all about choice. What classes you want to take, what you want to concentrate in, where you want to live, etc. This is all up to you. This same idea definitely applies to your Extras too. With each group you join, you can decide how little or fully committed you want to be. Want to join swing-dancing club but can only go every other week? That’s perfectly fine! Want to invest all your time into one group on campus? That works too (and in this case you could even try to hold a high position in the group)!

But there is just one stipulation for Extras at Brown: make sure you’re doing what you love! Don’t join a club on campus just because you feel like you should, or stay in one for more than a semester if you don’t like it. At Brown, you can feel totally free to constantly switch up what you’re involved in. Plus with hundreds of student groups on campus, you have the opportunity to try as many as you like, even all 400 and something if you want (and yes I understand that this may be somewhat unrealistic). Brown encourages risk-taking, experimentation, and independence within their students, and this mindset is definitely carried over into everyone’s extras too. So if you end up at Brown University next fall semester take a risk, try something new, and if you can’t find what you want, start your own club on campus. Don’t be afraid to audition for Wubapella, try out Taiko, or dance your way into Impulse! But always remember it’s never to late find the Extra that suits you.

Have questions about a specific student group or event on campus? Want me to cover a specific topic in my next post? Feel free to shoot me an email at lily_hartmann@brown.edu with any of your questions and comments!